CHICO — As Brandon Ricetti enters StandAlone Mixed Martial Arts Academy, he greets each of his Jiu-Jitsu students with playful banter, often while mimicking the signature moves of his childhood idols, professional wrestlers Kevin Nash, Booker T. and Hulk Hogan.

The sight is as disarming as it is comical.

Seeing it, one would hardly guess that Ricetti, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialist whose students affectionately call “coach,” is capable of channeling a ruthless mentality in the ring, dismantling opponents by executing a blend of precision blows and wrenching holds. But it’s that ability that caught the attention of Las Vegas-based promotion company Final Fight Championship (FFC), which Ricetti recently signed with, launching him from dimly lighted local rings to the national limelight.

“There is low-level pro, which is what a lot of my fights so far have been, with low pay and not much notoriety,” explained the 31-year-old fighter and coach. “(FFC) is going to be flying me out to Vegas. The company is international, so they’re bringing a lot of fighters from Europe too. It’s a big deal type of show. It’s a much bigger stage and I can potentially get better sponsors and I’m going to get paid better overall too.”

FFC airs its fights on Ultimate Fighting Championship’s streaming service “Fight Pass,” bringing Ricetti before a global audience to showcase his craft. His first fight under the FFC deal will be in late October against a fighter to be named.

Though the contract with FFC marks a major advance in Ricetti’s fighting career, he’s primarily interested in using the opportunity to enhance his coaching by testing his own skills in the crucible of live combat.

“I need to keep pushing myself,” Ricetti said. “I don’t think I can be a good coach if I settle for mediocrity. I don’t want to be that average coach. I want to be that amazing coach. I want my students to say, ‘Man, I got to train with this guy. He’s fantastic. He did all this stuff.’

“I’ve done a lot of stuff and I could settle, but I want to be the best coach you’ve ever had.”

The seeds of Ricetti’s fighting career were planted in sixth grade when he struggled with self-control and lacked an outlet for his unbridled energy. At the time, Ricetti lived in a two-bedroom apartment in Ukiah with his mother and grandmother. The living room doubled as a bedroom for Ricetti, who made do by sleeping on the couch.

Though his parents worked tirelessly to provide for him, there simply wasn’t room in their budget for trendy clothes. Ricetti’s shoes were a pair of white Payless sneakers that his mother barely scraped enough money together to purchase.

One day, a classmate made the mistake of ridiculing the hard-earned Payless specials. Embarrassment coursed through Ricetti’s chest and quickly morphed into anger. He then promptly exacted justice in the only way his 12-year-old mind saw fit — a physical outburst.

“I was a self-conscious kid,” Ricetti recalled with a twinge of remorse. “I felt like I wasn’t good enough because I was poor. When the kid made fun of my shoes I just took him to the ground. That was my first fight ever.”

It took a teacher to pull Ricetti off of his classmate, and afterwards, it was clear he needed to find a way to conquer his impulsive tendencies before they conquered him.

Eventually, Ricetti found an antidote in contact sports such as football and wrestling — both natural prefigurements of Ricetti’s current career. In addition to releasing his aggression, sports taught the young fighter the proper context and self-control necessary for its expression.

One of Ricetti’s early mentors was Greg Lalonis, who was the aspiring grappler’s junior high wrestling coach as well as the junior varsity coach at Ukiah High. Given Ricetti’s disposition and raw talent, he was ready for molding.

“(Lalonis) helped me become a wrestler and understand the game,” Ricetti said. “Starting with him, respect was the cornerstone of every coach I ever had. I learned to respect others when they’re talking and slow myself down.”

Despite his initial disappointment that folkstyle wrestling beared little resemblance to the WCW, Ricetti flourished under Lalonis’ tutelage, becoming a standout wrestler and eventually winning the North Bay League 162-pound title his senior year.

When his prep career drew to a close, he was still hungry to pursue some other form of competition, still thirsty to accomplish more. MMA would eventually feed that appetite.

While attending Chico State, Ricetti decided to try a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class at StandAlone and took to the sport immediately. Building on his background in wrestling, Ricetti showed enormous potential. What was less obvious to others was his ambition to pursue MMA professionally.

“(Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) was just a toy that he couldn’t put away, but I didn’t even know that he had any interest in fighting,” recalled StandAlone founder and owner Jason Pietz. “We ran a tryout and he showed up and surprised us all. We took him on the team and he’s been with us ever since.”

As important as Ricetti’s physical training is, the mental aspect is equally crucial. Every morning, Ricetti starts his day with the same routine — 25 minutes of meditation. The practice offers him a sense of peace prior to confronting the chaos of the day and allows him to deal with difficulties, both inside and outside of the ring, in stride.

Far from being the rambunctious adolescent who was once easily baited into fights, Ricetti only employs his skills in sanctioned bouts and training sessions now. In fact, modeling this self-control is at the core of his role as an instructor.

“At one point I used to think that my job was to win fights and titles,” Ricetti explained. “That’s what my job became. I became identified with being a fighter. That wasn’t the answer. Now I want to be a good example to people. That’s what my best coaches were. That’s the purpose.

“People can use Jiu-Jitsu to get through their own issues and hardships. As a teacher, I can help them by showing them that it’s OK to struggle. It’s OK to have a hard time. As warriors, that’s what we do. It’s about camaraderie. You’re building bonds. Parents don’t send kids here to learn Jiu-Jitsu. They come to learn morality, teamwork and how to work hard. Having that revelation made me realize that that’s what I’m here to do, just like my coaches did for me.”